Probably not, as it was very difficult to process from harvest into thread until the cotton gin, so was an expensive source of fiber, while hemp was much better and less expensive, plus it was much less prone to rot than cotton would've been. Sisal is what much of the natural rope is made of that one finds in the hardware stores, but that's from a plant found in Mexico and Central America. Jute is from India, and it was being used for rope by 1800 (iirc), how widespread it would've been in the Colonies, I cannot say.

LD

_________________It's not what you think you know; It's what you can prove

Hemp is most clearly documented and usable. Cotton rope of any diameter is more expensive than hemp and not as stong, hates being wet, etc. You can get it a bunch of places, for example, Turkey Foot Traders sell it in small hanks.

Search "Mother Earth News " site for a rope maker.Its a real simple device to make.I made one for the park I work for (went over great for a kid craft!). Then you can go to a craft store or sprawl mart and get differant thicknesses of hemp jewery making "string". Twist it together on your machine and trust me, you get some pretty servicable hemp rope.

Manila is still available to us and is readily available but has about half the strength of Hemp.

Sisal is trash. Though readily available, it has about a third of the strength of Manila and does not hold up to the elements as well. It also stretches far too much to be practical in larger applications. If used, plan on replacing all the ropes yearly. (Note, people with cats like the traditionally knotted 'bumpers' made from waste rope to hand for the cats to scratch)